Daughter of Ares, Goddess of War
by M E Wofford
Summary: An action piece featuring Ziva, Tony and McGee plus some bad guys.
1. Chapter 1

This is just because I wanted Ziva to kick some ass.

Not much of a story, more of just an action sequence.

But it was satisfying.

There could be a second chapter is anyone likes it enough.

I do not own NCIS or any part thereof.

Daughter of Ares, Goddess of War

Tony knelt on the ground. His hands behind his head. Beside him McGee did the same. Behind them a guy who looked like an offensive tackle for the Redskins held a double-barreled shotgun aimed in their general direction. Two other men armed with AK-47s talked together several yards away while watching the woods around them.

There'd been gunshots over to their left a few minutes before and Tony was worried. Ziva had headed over that way to "refresh" herself at the little stream they'd been following earlier promising dire consequences if he or McGee followed her. Then the guys with the guns had shown up and now they knelt in the rocky sand bank of the half frozen stream.

He needed a slap in the head. A slap for letting them get ambushed. A slap for letting Ziva go off on her own. A slap for just being such a general screwup. Where was Gibbs when you needed him?

He heard cracking underbrush and their prey, Chief Petty Office Marlon Watson came through, his weapon slung over his shoulder, grinning. He wore a Navy Pea Coat to keep the chill Virginia mountain air at bay.

"Got the bitch," he said.

"Ziva," McGee said with a slight hitch in his breath.

Tony closed his eyes. Ziva.

Watson came around in front of them and squatted.

"So boys, you the finest NCIS got? Cause you sure are sloppy out here in the woods."

Tony mentally shook the image of Ziva lying broken and bleeding from his head. He had to concentrate. He was still responsible for McGee.

"Tell me, Chief," he said, "how the hell did you get mixed up with these assholes? You're a 30-year man. You dedicated your life to serving your country."

Watson laughed, showing his tobacco stained teeth. He stood up.

"I'm tired, Special Agent DiNozzo. Tired of my country being flushed down the toilet by crooked politicians and illegal immigrants and minorities who think they deserve special treatment. I just got so tired of that shit. I want to take my country back. That's why me and these boys here – we decided to do something about it. That explosion, the one at the rally, it's just the beginning. The revolution's coming and this time we're doing it right."

Tony looked at him. Watson's eyes glowed with the fervor of his belief. Tony hated fanatics and white supremacists were some of the worse. The fact that this guy had access to explosives and weapons through his job with the Navy just made it all the worse somehow. And the fact that this man had probably shot and killed Ziva made Tony want to wrap his hands around Watson's throat and rip his head off.

He felt the hard edge of the shotgun barrel nudge his back.

"Keep your hands up," said Watson.

Tony chanced a glance at Tim. The Probie was looking straight ahead. His lower lip quivered a little and he was breathing shallowly. Tony knew McGee was scared. Hell, so was he. Chances of getting out of this alive were none and less.

Watson looked their way again.

"You boys should feel honored. You, and your little dead Mossad girlfriend, are the first executions of the new order. Hank, do it."

The guy behind Tony lifted the shotgun and lodged it against his head. He heard McGee's sharp intake of breath and looked his way. The kid was still staring straight ahead, jaw clenched tight as a steel spring.

"It's been good working with you, McGee," Tony said.

McGee swallowed audibly.

"You, too, Tony," he said.

Watson laughed.

"You boys wanna goodbye kiss? Do it now, Hank."

Tony wouldn't give them the satisfaction of closing his eyes. He took a deep breath. He heard the click of the double hammers being slowly drawn back.

Then the water erupted in front of him. Ziva stood dripping, water droplets running down her naked body. Her nipples were tight from the chill of the water and the air. Her wet dark hair hung in strands around her face and over her shoulders.

Her hands were at her sides and she looked like a dark goddess arising from the sea. Like the famous picture by Botticelli of the birth of Venus, only this was not the daughter of Zeus but Ares, God of War. Tony saw Watson standing with his mouth open taking in the sight of her. He felt the shotgun barrel move away from his head.

She smiled then and shook her hair out of her face; said "Shalom." Then her gun came up and she shot Watson in the head. She moved to stand in a classic shooters stance, legs apart and gun in a 2-handed grip and calmly shot Hank the shotgun wielder. Tony felt the wind of the passing of the slug over his head. Ziva came running up on shore, firing her gun at the two other men behind them. One got off a shot but it went wild. Ziva fired until she ran out of bullets. Then she walked back to where Watson lay and kicked him in the face.

She turned to Tony and McGee and said, "You can close your mouths and put your hands down now."

She sank tiredly to her knees and then slowly toppled over and they saw the blood on her back.


	2. Chapter 2

Daughter of Ares, Goddess of Death

Chapter 2

Tony reached out to Ziva just as she fell in front of him, trying to keep her face from hitting the ground. He did manage to get one hand under her head. He crawled the two steps necessary until he could reach her.

"Ziva?"

He turned her over and pushed the hair out of her face. McGee came up beside him.

"Probie, check those guys. If they're not dead, cuff 'em. And bring me some of their jackets. She's freezing."

"Right, Tony."

Tony gently held Ziva in one arm while he shrugged out of his coat. He put it over her upper body and pulled her close to him.

"And bring me something I can use as a pressure dressing, McGee."

Patting Ziva's cheek he kept up a running commentary, whispering in her ear.

"C'mon, Ziva. Don't do this. You need to wake up. You can't just show up naked, kill the bad guys and die! That's too naughty TRUE GRIT even for me. C'mon, sweetheart, open those big brown eyes for me."

He knew he was babbling; he couldn't help it.

"McGee!" he screamed.

Tim ran up and knelt by him; a pile of jackets in his hands and a couple of shirts.

"Here, Tony. They're all dead. All four. How did she do it? The bad news is she also got the gas tank in the truck and it's a good two miles back to our car."

"Okay, okay. Here, hold her."

Tony leaned Ziva toward McGee, making sure the other agent had his arms firmly around her. He took his jacket from her shoulders and then tore one of the shirts McGee had given him into strips using the other as the pressure part of the dressing. He bandaged her as securely as he could. Then he took her back in his arms, propping her on his chest.

"She so cold, Tony. I think she may be hypothermic."

"I know, Probie. I KNOW. Get those jackets over her."

McGee took the four jackets he had and wrapped them around Ziva, making sure to tuck everything tightly around her, Tony covered her head with his jacket. He remembered reading somewhere you lost a good percentage of your body heat through your scalp.

"Did you find any cell phones on those guys when you took their coats?"

"No, Tony."

"Well, look again, Probie. That asshole Watkins threw ours in the stream. We need to get Gibbs and Ducky here and soon."

McGee nodded and got up to search the bodies.

"Oh, and grab some of that driftwood. Let's see if we can get a fire going."

"Right, Tony."

He heard McGee searching the bodies but he concentrated on Ziva. He slapped her face softly and then a little harder.

"Ziva, wake up. Talk to me, honey. Wake up and curse me in one of the 100s of languages you know. Wake up and punch me in the chest and leave a bruise, I got my hand on your perky little boob. C'mon, I need you to wake up."

He buried his face in her neck. He could feel the slow, slow beat of the big vein there but her flesh was still so cold.

"What the hell is taking you so long?" he yelled at Tim.

"Coming, coming," McGee said and began throwing branches on the ground in front of Tony and Ziva.

"Make it a big fire, Tim. Maybe someone will see the smoke and come see what's happening, like Gibbs."

"No phones, Tony. I even checked the truck."

Tony nodded.

"Build the fire. Aren't you some kind of ranger or boy scout or something?"

Tim only nodded. He knew Tony was scared. He was too. Ziva looked dead; so pale and still. Don't think that way, Tim, he told himself. Build the fire.

He did. McGee built a huge fire and then he gathered more firewood and stacked it near Tony.

Tony was getting more worried if that was possible. Ziva had started shivering. Shivering so hard he could hardly hold her up. He hugged her to him tighter. Her teeth were chattering so he was afraid she'd break some of them.

What else could they do? He could send McGee hiking back up the path to the car but that would take at least 30 minutes at best and then another 10 minutes or so to drive back and there was no guarantee the low-riding sedan would make it on the trail the pickup had taken. Tony was afraid if they didn't get Ziva warmed up soon it would be too late. He knew people died of hypothermia every winter. Why hadn't they waited for back up? The thoughts ran continuously through his head like some kind of crazy, sped up, merry-go-round.

McGee knelt in front of him, breathing hard, his cheeks pink with the physical effort he had been putting forth. He gave Tony an idea.

"McLumberjack, take off your shirts!

"What?" Tim asked.

"Take off your damned shirts and just put your jacket back on, leave it unzipped. Just effin' do it okay?"

McGee did as he was told. It was chilly when he undressed but not so bad near the fire. He put his jacket back on unzipped.

"Okay, Tony. Now what?"

"Come over here, get close."

Hesitantly, Tim did as he was ordered.

"Closer, c'mon, I'm not going to bite."

Tim sat down as close to Tony and Ziva as he could.

Tony said, "Now uncover Ziva as little as possible and pull her to your chest. Just do it, Tim."

Tim moved the jackets and pulled Ziva to his chest. Her skin was still ice cold and she shivered constantly. He took a firm hold on her. He got her back to his chest and put his arms around her waist. He nodded at Tony.

Tony kept the lower part of Ziva's body on his lap and quickly pulled off his shirt and t-shirt, now putting his jacket back on. He scooted close to McGee, close enough to put his chest against Ziva's. It made him shiver. She was so damned cold. He positioned her legs into his lap and leaned forward, draping the jackets around them all but mostly Ziva and then wrapping his arms around Ziva and McGee, grabbing McGee's shoulders, pulling him tight.

The heat of the fire warmed Tony's face. Soon he knew he would get hot but he couldn't move away. They had to stay as close to the fire as possible. He also felt a strain in his back where he leaned toward McGee, trying to keep Ziva in place between then without crushing her. God, he hoped Gibbs would find them soon.

Ziva seemed to be shivering a little less violently now. Tony hoped that was a good sign. He shifted his grip a little trying to find a more comfortable position. She was definitely shivering less now.

"Uh, Tony," McGee said.

"What?"

"Does this feel, well, a little weird to you?"

Tony grinned without humor.

"What? You think the two of us, naked from the waist up, hugging each other while sandwiching our naked female partner between us trying to keep her from dying is weird?"

Tim nodded.

"If I had a free hand I'd slap you so hard your head would spin around like Linda Blair in THE EXORCIST, Probie. Of course it's weird. But it if keeps Ziva alive until someone shows up that can help then it's worth it. We will just never speak of it again."

Tim nodded once more. They held onto each other and Ziva for a few more minutes, watching the flames dance, saying nothing.

Tony couldn't really tell if Ziva was getting warmer but he was. The fire and the body heat shared with McGee and the stacked jackets all did their part. But he was very much afraid that something else was warming him up too. He could feel Ziva's naked breasts pressed against his chest and the sensation was distracting. Damn, what was wrong with him? She could be dying and he was getting slightly turned on.

"Uh, Tony?"

"Yeah, McGee," Tony said.

"Something even weirder."

Tony had an idea what McGee was going to say.

"What?"

"I don't know how to say this, it's kind of embarrassing and I don't know why it's happening but…well, I, I think I'm…"

"Getting turned on holding naked Ziva?"

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"Well, how the hell do you think, Probie?"

"You too, Tony?"

Tony just shot him a look that shut him up.

"Just keep holding on tight and think about something else?"

"What, Tony?"

"How should I know? The freakin' string theory. Just something else."

Tim nodded.

They sat for a few more minutes and then Tim reached out and threw a couple more large branches on the fire which had started to die down.

Tony started. Had Ziva moved?

"Was that you, Probie?"

"What?"

"Did you just touch my chest?"

Tim shook his head.

"No, I'm still holding onto Ziva."

Tony peeked down inside the jacket cocoon. He could see Ziva and she had moved, her hand touching his chest now.

"Ziva, can you hear me? Ziva?"

She moaned.

Tony looked at Tim who had a smile for the time in what seemed like days.

"Ziva, stay still. You've been shot and frozen. We're warming you up, okay? Just be still and stay warm.. . Hopefully, someone will be here soon and we can get you to the hospital."

"Tony?" Her voice was soft, he could hardly hear her.

"Yeah, me and McGeek are here, honey. Don't worry."

"Is this a dream?"

Tony looked at McGee. McGee looked puzzled.

Ziva continued.

"Is this my favorite dream? I have had this dream before."

Tony felt her hand on his chest move and he saw McGee jump. Ziva must have touched him too. What was she saying? That she'd had a dream with him and McGee in it before? What kind of dream and had she been naked in it?

He looked at McGee who was blushing furiously.

Tony opened his mouth to say something just as he heard tires protesting furiously on the dirt trail and then the squealing of brakes.


	3. Chapter 3

Daughter of Ares, Goddess of War

Chapter 3

Of course, it was Gibbs coming to the rescue. He had his cell phone out calling for rescue personnel as he came toward them on the run. When he finally untangled them and saw Ziva, he got back on the phone and demanded a helicopter; which he got. Within 30 minutes Tony, Tim and Ziva, now well wrapped in a thermal blanket especially designed to treat hypothermia and with an I.V. going, were transported to the nearest hospital.

Ziva was admitted while Tony and Tim were treated and released; having only minor cuts and bruises. Once Ziva got warmed up she was taken to the operating room where a very simple procedure removed the bullet from her back. It had been lodged next to her shoulder blade but had done relatively little damage. The surgeon and Ducky thought it had actually been a ricochet with most of the force behind it expended before it hit her. It had been the hypothermia that had almost done her in. Swimming in the freezing water of the stream had slowed her blood loss until she'd come back up on land but had robbed her of her vital body heat.

It wasn't until the day after her surgery that the team got the whole story of Ziva's side of the shootout. She had had to attend to a call of nature and had decided to wash off in the stream afterwards, taken off her jacket and overshirt to wash her hands and face. She'd heard Watson coming and turned with her gun in hand but he'd been faster and fired. She jumped back and stumbled into the deepest part of the stream and then he'd shot again. The bullet had knocked her over and she'd gone under. Once under the water she decided it might be safer so she'd decided to swim a ways downstream, back toward her teammates. But her boots were weighing her down and her clothes, so she'd stripped, keeping only her gun. Yes, she had thought the element of surprise in being a naked woman might give her an edge; an edge she would need with the odds four against one. She had been cold but mad at being taken by surprise too and so her anger had kept her warm enough, at least for a while. She'd watch Tony and Tim kneel in the sand and when she'd seen the shotgun line up behind Tony's head she'd become a naked killer. She didn't remember much after falling at their feet. Only being so cold she said she didn't think she'd ever be warm again.

Even now she had 3 blankets on her bed but she was smiling at Tim and Tony as they stood on either side of her bed.

"I get to go home tomorrow and probably back to work in a week. I am very happy I was not more damaged."

She smiled. Tony was glad to see it. She also had her normal beautiful olive complexion back. He'd hated seeing her so pale. He didn't want to tell her how worried he'd been. How relieved he was now.

Ziva motioned for Tim to bend down beside her.

"Thank you, McGee, for helping save my life."

She kissed him gently on the lips. Tim stood up and grinned.

"Tony," she said and he bent down toward her.

"Thank you for thinking of a way to save me."

She kissed him on the lips, too; maybe a little more leisurely than with Tim, taking a little more time. Then she slapped him hard with her left hand, the right one being in a sling.

"Next time, put some clothes on me."

Standing up again with his cheek stinging from her slap and his lips tingling from her kiss, Tony grinned his most obnoxious grin.

"No way, Ziva."

He backed away quickly before she could hit him again.

They talked for a few more minutes. Tim told Ziva how she had come up out of the water like some goddess of death, spitting bullets at the bad guys, killing them all before collapsing. Tony agreed.

"You were awesome, Ziva. It was something out of legend. Of course, then you collapsed at our feet so that took away a little bit of the awesomeness."

Ziva frowned at him and then laughed.

"It is a good thing your cell phones had been destroyed then. I would hate to have that picture appearing on the Internet over and over again."

Shortly after that Ziva started yawning and Tony and Tim said they would go. Arrangements were made for Tony to come and drive her home from the hospital the next day. Tony and Tim both leaned in and kissed her cheek.

Just as they were about to head out the door Tony looked at Tim and said, "Should we ask her?"

Tim just gave him big, scared eyes.

"Ask me what, Tony?"

Tony turned back to her, lounging against the door jab, Tim slightly behind him.

"Well, when we were warming you up. You know, skin-to-skin contact, McGee at your back and me in front breastd-to-hairy chest, so to speak, you said something."

She looked at him suspiciously.

"What do you think I said, Tony?"

"Well, you said something like was this a dream, it was a good dream and you'd had it before. I was just wondering if we could hear a little more about that particular dream. I mean, it obviously involved you and me and McGee, right? Naked right?"

Ziva sat up straight in her bed. Her face turned red. Then she took her plastic water carafe from the table by the bed and threw it at Tony left handed. He ducked; it hit McGee on the head.

"Ouch!"

Ziva continued finding things to throw. She threw her water cup. She threw her box of tissues. She threw her pillows. Tony was happy to note she was not as accurate with her left hand as her right. Then she threw a book she'd been reading. It hit Tony in the chest.

"Ow!"

It was when she picked up the bedpan that Tony started closing the door. He got it pulled to just in time. Once he heard the thud he opened the door a bit again and stuck his head back in.

"Well talk more about this tomorrow, Ziva. Sweet dreams."

She yelled something in Hebrew at him and Tony gently closed the door.

"Tony, I can't believe you did that. You know she's going to kill us when her shoulder is well enough, right?"

"Probie, she owes us big time. She won't hurt us. Well, not much anyway. It'll be worth it. We can get some excellent mileage out of that dream thing. Did you see how red she turned? Must have been some dream, eh?"

He and McGee were quiet for a few seconds contemplating the dream Ziva might have had.

Tony sighed.

"I don't want to piss her off too much, though, McGee. I am very glad our little Mossad assassin is on our side, more or less, most of the time.

Tim looked serious.

"I just want to stay on her good side period, Tony. You're on your own."

He turned and left and Tony trailed after him, smiling. Thinking about some of the dreams he'd had involving Ziva. In some of them she'd actually even had her clothes on.


End file.
